Hohner Blues Harp Harmonica

Dig in deep and experience the raw power and grit of the blues. The Blues Harp is engineered for consistent volume and tone when used for intense blues playing. This harp can hang with the toughest players on their most serious gigs. Highly bendable with a dirty, dark hard rockin' sound, this harmonica is designed to emphasize all the best qualities of blues harmonica playing. It has a wood comb for full tone.

Diatonic Single Reed Models
These models include some of the most popular harmonicas and are used in Blues, Folk, Country, and Rock. All feature reeds that are tuned to produce the natural notes of the scale without any additional sharps and flats. Most are 10-hole instruments with the 4 middle holes comprising a complete 8-note octave, and the holes an either side extending the scale and permitting chord playing. These models are capable of producing the expressive effects of bending and overblowing.

"Harmonicas are nice quality, belt is fine, but case is disappointing."

Overall:
1. The harmonicas themselves are nice quality. They're well made, by hand, in Germany. I feel good about that.
2. The belt is good!. (Though it only fits up to a 43" waist, be advised.)
3 THE CASE, THOUGH... oh brother! Its feet are loose and cannot be repaired they are so cheaply riveted. The latches are equally dismal and ill fitting. And the hinges. (Plus there isn't enough room in it for your odds and ends -your neck holder, belt, cloth, papers, mic & cable, etc), which is exactly what you want a case to do if you're a harp player. But this holds only your harmonicas and it does it by inspiring you to feel bad. Well, here's the thing about that: I looked around to try and buy a decent replacement case, as I find the harps themselves are nice and I'm keeping them. -They ARE overpriced, but everyone who sells harmonicas is charging that much, so I accept it (disgustedly) , But you do get a real good harmonica. So I went looking for a case, and found the following: It's really hard to find one at all! And if you do find a decent case, expect to pay up to two hundred dollars, because everything I saw selling for $100 or lower is just as junky as this case. With that in mind, and from reading those reviews, I CAN at least say these positives about the case you'll get here --> The case itself is capable of protecting your harps from crush damage. Yes, the hardware (hinges, latches & feet) is all total crap, but the case itself does have some solid strength to offer. So if you resolve to always treat the hardware gently, it WILL protect your harmonicas from crush damage. PLUS: it does keep them from bouncing around loose, inside the case. (all the other cases I looked at buyers comments of, complained of their harps bouncing around loose, when carrying them..this one doesn't have that problem). So it has downsides (junk hardware, not enough room), but it does do something other cases selling for up to $100 and more don't --> It'll protect your harps.
The harps themselves are great. So I have resigned to feel ok about this purchase, based on knowing how expensive a decent case actually is, and because look at it this way: individual Hohner Blues Harmonicas sell for $43 each. Seven times $43 = $301. The price of this set, with the belt and case is $340. Well, the belt can be thought of as a $14 item, surely, so all that leaves to pay for the case is $25. So for $25 you're getting as much quality as that will pay for, for a case. It's almost free really. *shrug* So I'm keeping this and feeling ok.
To finish the discussion of cases: you probably won't find another case that's good enough unless you're willing to spend up to $200, cruise e-bay, or possibly build your own. The $100 ones I saw are just as junky and people complain about a weird smell, harmonicas bouncing around loose, case covering falling apart right from when they first got it. ..The $200 ones, well..Fender for example used to make a real nice "Mississippi Sax" harmonica case that people loved. But good luck getting a quality one now! Companies all care about stock prices, not quality anymore. Sad but real.So here are the choices for replacing or dealing with this case issue:
1- if you have the skills, you could custom build your own case which might be nice, or
2- you could try ordering a 'Musician's Gear Hardshell Harmonica Case' from Musician's Friend (It's only $45. It will smell AWFUL (and that will get into your harps and you'll have to taste it), but reviewers say leave it open in the sun for 2 days will eliminate that. ..AND you will have to use some stiff cardboard to make dividers to add to it, so your harps wont bounce around loose, but reviewers say that's easily done ("5 minutes").
3- I saw a good deal on a soft shell case at Eagle Music (the 'Extreme Protection Harmonica Gig Bag' It costs $45 pounds, English money. So you might have to pay some serious S&H for that one, for an international order, but it really seems good!).
4- Leo Oskar makes a set of harmonicas that come in a case, you could maybe buy those instead (but I DON'T KNOW how good that case actually is, and I don't know how those harmonicas are..and they do make them with a plastic comb, rather than a wooden one like the Hohner Blues Harp has. So..take your chances if you wish there.
5- Zzounds sells a Hohner Piedmont Blues harmonica set for $27. Those harmonicas are for beginners, but the soft shell case it comes with might be worth the money... if the lid falls off this case finally (lol) (well, it might!) I like choice #2 best. That's where I'll go if this case lets me down. Oops,
6 --> add new hardware to the Hohner case!! (might work) (why not).
Overall: buy this. They're good harmonicas. You''ll like them. The belt is nice.The case will work if you care for it, and don't worry if its crappy, it's free, and I gave you some options for dealing with it, or replacing it.Be happy! :)
* NOTE:I gave a 3-star rating for manufacturer support, only because you required a rating, but I have no idea what dealing with Hohner is like. They may be a 5 star experience, I don't know. ..But I would have liked to have seen more merchandise at their site, like specifically a better case to upgrade to ;) And I gotta hold them responsible for the surprising lack of quality of the one they sold me.

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"Blues harp"

Overall:
This is a good deal for SEVEN (7) harmonicas, this other guy didn't look at the description obviously. Great for bending, I've always used these, or a Marine Band. Good deal for SEVEN harmonicas!!

Return Exception
This item must be exchanged directly through the manufacturer if it is found to be defective, and can only be returned to us if it is unopened. details

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